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Following the release of illustrated book Under Dogs last year, Jean Jullien is continuing his love affair with comical canines as he launches a Kickstarter for new card game Dodgy Dogs.

Created in collaboration with Yolky Games, the game sees players dealt a hand of dogs that come in various shapes and sizes and have different bad behaviours. The name of the game is to get rid of your dodgy dogs before the other players, by placing cards down on the table and trying to match them with the size or behaviour of the dog on the previous card.

There are also a number of special cards such as ‘dog whisperer’, which lets you play any dodgy dog you want (as long as you whisper), and a wild card that means everybody has to swap their cards with the player next to them.

Jullien has illustrated over 50 dog breeds for the game, and has tried to match the look of each dog with its own pesky character trait, ranging from a chihuahua fighting to a golden retriever digging.

“I usually draw very generic-looking characters when I draw humans, dogs or cats,” says Jullien. “I care more about the action and direct communication and have found that using a ‘token’ character helps with that. So it’s been really fun to try to challenge that a bit and get into more detail. Although the drawings still bear my trademark lack of accuracy!”

While the common factor among most of the dodgy dogs is their cheekiness, Jullien has also played on some of the more unique personality traits associated with our four-legged friends. “I’ve had fun making some look a bit more clueless (pug) and some more placid (shih tzu). Some look very stern and not to be messed with (komodor) and others you can imagine would get to know your coffee table by mistake because they’re just too excited (red setter),” he says. “Hopefully people will recognise their favourite pals and there will be relatable cards for everyone.”

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